Dublin Headband

Cotton headband, tablet woven 65 cm long x 0.5 cm wide (including fringe) Narrow bands of silk and wool have been found in the 10th and 11th century archological layers. These would have been about long enough to span the head, in some cases possibly with the addition of ribbons. Some of the bands are hemmed at the end. Many similar bands have been found throughout the Scandinavian-controlled Northern Europe, many of them metal-brocaded, though the high percentage of these may be due more to metals longevity in an archological context, rather than a higher proliferation of them in this period. Ok, I confess. This wasnt really an attempt at recreating a piece from the Viking Age. Due to unexpected time constraints shortly before this display I was unable to attempt to weave a band of the nature described, but I needed a headband to display the ways in which the caps may have been worn. This piece is woven of cotton and/or cotton-polyester sewing thread as a practice piece for weaving narrow bands with high thread counts. Its doubleface tablet woven with 12 cards, just in case youre interested. And no, actually, Im not insane. Turns out tablet weaving sewing thread is pretty much the same as thicker thread once its on the loom, you just have to exercise greater control over it while measuring the warp out. It really, really, really likes tangling itself up!

You dont need to see my documentation. This isnt the recreation youre looking for. Move along. Bibliography Ewing, Thor. Viking Clothing. Tempus Publishing Limited, Stroud. 2006. Heckett, Elizabeth. Some silk and wool head-coverings from Viking Dublin: uses and origins-an enquiry Textiles in Northern Archaeology-NESAT III: Textile Symposium in York

6-9 May 1987 ed. Penelope Walton & John-Peter Wild. Archetype Publications, London. 1990. Walton, Penelope. Textile Production at Coppergate, York: Anglo-Saxon or Viking? Textiles in Northern Archaeology-NESAT III: Textile Symposium in York 6-9 May 1987 ed. Penelope Walton & John-Peter Wild. Archetype Publications, London. 1990.

Brgia Vadesbana
(Brighid Anraith)
e-mail: redmagpie@hotmail.com